Travellin' Penguin

…..of a great deal of wind and rain and cool temperatures. However we are going to reach a high of 19 degrees C today, (56F) so the temps are beginning to climb.

I got up early this morning and finished the book, Bodies of Light by Jennifer Down. This book won Australia’s Miles Franklin literary award 2022 and was short listed for the Stella prize here.

I have heard a few say they don’t want to read it due to the subject matter but it is a wonderfully complex story (IMHO) and once into it I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Maggie, the protagonist.

Here is the blurb on the back of book: “A quiet small town existence. An unexpected Facebook message, jolting her back to the past. A history she’s reluctant to revisit: dark memories and unspoken trauma, warning knocks on bedroom walls, unfathomable loss. She became a new person a long time ago. What happens when buried stories are dragged into the light?”

The story starts with Maggie as a 4 yr old. Her mother has left and she is left with her father. When he is imprisoned for manslaughter, her life in foster care and institutional care begins. We follow Maggie until she is in her 40s and see the ramifications of a traumatic childhood. It went in directions I could not have predicted and once into this story I think the reader is really on her side.

I found the writing amazing and the characters jumped off the page.

I’m not going to say another word about her journey as it would spoil her trajectory.

Here is another book I’m reading from the library:

Postcards from the Asylum by Tasmanian poet Karen Knight. I went to a Fullers book launch a week ago of a book of poetry she and her photography partner put together. He would take photos of the landscape of the Tasman peninsula (google Tasman Peninsula photos if you want to see it’s beauty) and she wrote a poem to go with each photo. I did not buy this book but I was interested in a previous book she mentioned that she published in 2008. It is a book of poetry of her time as an inmate at the Royal Derwent Psychiatric Hospital in 1969.

Willow court has a very old history as a hospital, lunatic asylum, psychiatric hospital and all manner of people were incarcerated there over the decades. Many with disabilities, immigrants from WWII who could not speak English, the mentally ill. It didn’t take much to end up there. It closed in 2000 and I was working for Disability Services at the time. We supported residents moving into community homes as part of a team. Reading the files of my clients made for disturbing reads and although the buildings of Willow court still stand many are now derelict with their steel bars over windows and even a moat round one building. Various organisations have tried to make a go of different enterprises since but the government has been less than helpful in managing anything to do with this place. Vandalism and graffiti have taken its toll and who knows what might happen to these heritage buildings in the future.

I am looking forward to seeing how she manages her poetry of such a dark place.

Well, I am off to the gym soon on the bus so I will move along here and leave you with a photo or two to cheer this post up a bit.

I have to do this. When I was in the wonderful days of collecting my Penguin books beginning about 2011 or so, I forget. I acquired the little mascot of Penguin.

Since then he has travelled with me as I travelled in 6 continents on both holidays and book collecting these lovely vintage books. A couple of years ago, with 3000 books of varying Penguins on the shelves, specially built shelving and many travel stories the journey is over, having sold the library a couple of years ago. Getting older one begins to worry what will become of our valued collections.

However the Penguin remained. I couldn’t part with him and I take him with me still. In my 70s, I now travel, embarrassingly at times with him. He recently accompanied me to Sydney and whenever I take him out of my bag or pocket to hurriedly take his photo while he enjoys the sites, as my childhood takes over, I almost turn red in the face. But today that all changed.

I read this article in the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2022/nov/19/adults-who-have-cuddly-toys-comfort-objects

It is a wonderful article about adults who take comfort from inanimate friends. The story I love the most is the last one about the recently widowed woman in her 70s who acquired a teddy bear for comfort. They watch the news together and she stated she tells him “what sons of bitches they all are.” I really laughed out loud. Who is to say what the appropriate age is to give up their soft friends.

I think now I’m going to feature our household Penguin even more here. After all he’s sat on walls in Cornwall looking out to sea. He sat on the porch of Doc Martin’s porch. He’s been on camera safari in Namibia and Botswana. He had tea in Japan with several,people in our group who would borrow him for their own photo opportunities. That was quite funny as they posed him with cherry blossoms in yards we walked by.

He’s been in the subways of Moscow and once he fell off our bookshelf and one of our dogs grabbed him. I really saved his life that day.

So while this post isn’t about reading books now or going to many places, I do feel like this article in the Guardian may be life changing. I wonder how many other adults out there refuse to give up a childhood friend or find comfort in hard times with an old friend.

I haven’t gotten to the point that he goes into the will but you never know. I hope everyone is having a pleasant weekend and maybe this post puts a smile on your face.

It’s been a good week in southern Tasmania despite the confused weather. One day I’m outside with the dogs in the sun, the next day there are snow flurries and it looks to continue over the coming days.

The gym I attend started a new way to kill us. I attended my first “barre’” class. It is a combination of ballet, Pilates and yoga. I just passed my 2 yr anniversary of weight training and this new addition was great though I was on paracetamol for the next two days so I could walk. My second class is coming up this coming week. So much fun. 😏 , no really!

I attended a couple of really fun book launches through Fullers book shop over the past couple of weeks. Australian tv presenter and comedian, Shaun Micallef has released a new book, Tripping Over Myself. The launch was held in the historic Town Hall as he was interviewed by actor Marta Düsseldorp, who I really admire. I’ve not really followed Shaun but he was very entertaining. I went because I admire Marta so much and have seen her performances both live and on television. The two of them really played off each other and there were lots of laughs, The book is autobiographical related to his rise as a comedian and presenter.

The other book launch was the children’s book Runt by Craig Silvey, author of Jasper Jones and Honeybee. The book, though written for younger readers is also touted to be enjoyed by adults. A tale of resilience and hope and everyone wanted to read this book by the time we left. Looking to the future it could very well be an Australian children’s classic and will most likely be made into a film. Craig was an entertaining speaker and quite a bit of conversation went on around me as question time had many people putting up their hands, including one child. The feel of the book is wonderful due to the texture of the cover and the illustrations are like the sparse black and white children’s book of the past. I just loved it.

I was going to add the books I’m travelling in this week but as this is starting to become long I will post a part 2 soon.

In the meantime, I will leave you with a couple of bird photos I took during the last 10 days exploring nature reserves with friends.

All the best for the coming week.